Open Cosmos raises $7 million to make satellites more affordable

Apr 23, 2018 · http://tech.eu/

UK satellite startup Open Cosmos has raised $7 million in a Series A round led by BGF Ventures alongside LocalGlobe, Entrepreneur First, Taavet Hinrikus (Transferwise cofounder) and Charlie Songhurst (former head of corporate strategy at Microsoft).

The company, which is based at the ESA Business Incubator in the UK and was founded through the Entrepreneur First programme, manufactures low-cost satellites and their accompanying software platform, qbapp.

Founder Jordà Siquier likens the development of satellites to the advancement of computers, gradually getting smaller and more affordable: "The space industry is ripe for the same disruption We believe that our end-to-end service based on smaller, more affordable, more accessible satellites, will enable new applications to emerge."

It plans to use the new funds to double its team and expand its operations to manufacture 30 satellites a year. It launched its first satellite last year and has contracts with the European Space Agency.